Read Across America Day

March 2nd marks Read Across America Day! In honor of the occasion, we asked some of our authors about their favorite reading nooks. Here’s what they had to say…

“My favorite relaxing reading “nook” is in my comfy curved outdoor couch on our back deck. I light candles, grab a refreshing drink, snuggle under a blanket and dive into a good book! ALTERNATIVELY…when I need motivation to exercise, I grab the latest edition of any of my favorite series (the more suspenseful, the better) and hop on my exercise bike- a different kind of “nook”!”—Jill Grimes, MD, author of Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STIs,Austin, TX

“I’m a kid, a VERY OLD kid, who loves reading. My reading nook is the corner of a large puffy couch in the middle of our living room. I share the space with two fish tanks, but often not with family members, and face an enormous south-facing window that overlooks the Sonoran desert and its beautiful saguaro cacti. Sometimes I get so comfy I take a nap, but usually the book is too interesting.”—Justin O. Schmidt, author of The Sting of the Wild,Tucson, AZ

“The first one is obviously a joke. I don’t actually read on the diving board. But one of the great parts of winter in Arizona is being able to read outdoors, which I love to do. (This photo is from our backyard.) The other one is ASU’s Hayden Library, where I not only enjoy taking out books (and getting in my daily weightlifting with heavy tomes) but reading.”—Devoney Looser, author of The Making of Jane Austen,Phoenix, AZ

“At my home, we have a room called "the library" where we keep most of our books on sizeable bookcases and shelves. The room has a very comfortable plush chair and ottoman. This is my favorite spot to settle in and read. In the winter I spread a blanket over myself. In the summer, the ceiling fan above me is always going strong. Often my dog Gavin likes to sleep next to the chair. Needless to say, we have passed many an hour like this.”—John C. McManus, author of Hell Before Their Very Eyes: American Soldiers Liberate Concentration Camps in Germany, April 1945, Rolla, MO

“I’m most likely to be found reading in the living room across from the fireplace. I’m on a couch in front of a hanging from Ivory Coast I acquired in the Peace Corps. I’m reading Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life. The author inscribed the book at a convention of biographers, ‘For Steve Grant, Good luck with the Folger!!’”—Stephen Grant, author of Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger, Arlington, VA

“I wouldn't say this is my favorite reading spot, but I very much enjoy reading on the train. A good book can turn an otherwise boring and lengthy commute into a pleasure. The train ride provides an excellent opportunity to catch up on my reading.”—Rebecca Natow, author of Higher Education Rulemaking: The Politics of Creating Regulatory Policy, New York, NY

“Perhaps I am more Luddite than techie, but my favorite place to curl up with a book is in the log cabin my wife and I built years ago in the southern Adirondacks. Heated only with a wood stove, and without cell phone, internet or TV reception it is the perfect place to read without interruption. Depending on my mood I can choose to sit on the Shaker style mission sofa made by my Dad and Granddad or in my Grandmother’s overstuffed armchair.”—Alvin Breisch, author of The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia, Syracuse, NY